Nightmare: Raising Part 1

Thinking about how Aunty Spider said there were more animals out there with transmigrated souls, I began to imagine a man in black and orange leather sitting in a bar laughing and playing cards.

Like a vision of autumn he had had long, red, wild hair and a melodious voice that rang strong over all the others. A matching tail with a black tip flicked this way and that as he played his hand. His face was a full of mirth, hiding his bluffs and projecting coy false tells, but I could tell under all that hair his furry left ear would twitch whenever he lied. A hat of twisted wood carved into a dapper style hid two little horns, their tips jagged and broken, sticking out of his brow.

He kind of reminded me of Redzilla, but the rest of his body was humanoid, and so were his companions. There was one with bear features and two with bird. They drank in celebration for their hard work paying off. It didn't matter who won the game because they all had won the prize and there was more back at their den.

I didn't recognized the symbols on the cards, but as I watched them I started to understand the game. It was like poker, or maybe more like mojong, played using wooden cards with symbols carved on them. The 'numbered' cards had a form of tally mark on the center top and center bottom of the card with a symbol in the center that seemed to get more complicated the higher the number. Then there were the 'face' cards that just had a complicated symbol on them. I wasn't sure exactly how the face cards went together. There were multiples of the same number cards with different symbols on them, but there didn't seem to be any repeat face cards. There was also no color to the cards besides scorching around the carved symbols to make them pop... or was the scorching caused by something else?

The man laid down several face cards in a formation that connected to a few others already played on the table and then snapped his fingers. A blue light flared up connecting the cards in a larger more intricate pattern using the symbols on the cards aspathways for the light. "Beat that tier."

"Gahr, one more round and I could have gotten you."

"I got no'ing 'e whole hand."

"No better here."

The others groaned and folded their cards.

"Ranger!" The bear roared. "A toast to plans well laid and patience paid."

The man rose his metal tankard. "To strong allies here, swift allies there, and our guardian above who follows us everywhere." The two clanked their drinks so hard some of the bear's drink splashed out. Ranger gave the other two a raise and a nod and once more--to me? No, that could be.

CRASH!

His yellow eyes flicked away from mine almost as if they had never met. A few tables away sat a group of men in metal armor. Their table was now soaked in drink, wood cups rolling, and a ceramic jug lay shattered on the ground. Yet still, one of them had a hold of the barmaid's inner thigh and was pulling her closer.

His companion stood up and stepped forward, cutting off her escape route. "Our food, our drink, all spoiled. How are you going to make it up to us?"

"I-I... Sir... please." The woman was neither young nor weak looking, but she was certainly scared. Her dress was nice and her hands and face appeared skilled for her job, the job of drawing customers in and serving them well, nothing more. But skills were not same as the strength of levels the men radiated.

A man across the table spun a dagger, point down, watching it cut a spiral into the wood. "A night with a knight? It's certainly better to serve us than not, right?"

Ranger stood up with a scoul on his face, but in a breath it was gone and replaced with a gleeful smile before he turned around. "My table's drinks are empty and food cold, Barmaid--Casandra was it?--please bring us another round. If it is truly so great to serve them please let me. My hands are swift and my back is strong, certainly it would be better to spend the night with someone skilled at taking care of knights than not, right?"

Mirth left the sitting man's face, whose hand was still holding tight to the barmaid's thigh. "How about you serve yourself then."

"Alas," Ranger shrugged, "I'm too big for my own delicate hands, but you seem small enough to fit easily. I might not even notice."

"Fuck!" The man yelled as the barmaid slammed her tray into the joint of his wrist.

She stumbled back, stepping away as Ranger caught her. Stepping forward he spun her behind him. I felt a tingle of desire, my wish for someone doing something like that to me was more than just a fantasy. I imagined her heart beating as hard as mine. "Tisk tisk, if you don't at least know how to put on a good face for a woman than you don't deserve one."

"Fucking beast bastard." The man with the dagger stood up and threw it. Ranger stood still as the dagger flew past his head, cutting off a lock of hair. He caught the lock and stuffed it in a pouch without looking away from the man. "Your ancestor may have been sacred, but you don't deserve the favor of the kingdom. Your parents were just beast fucking freaks."

"Oh then, does that mean you would like it like my human mother did?" Ranger put up two finger and licked down one and up the other. His slim tongue curled in on itself a little as it was slightly longer than average. His nails were tipped with red paint and symbols simular to the ones on the cards. Behind him he held his other hand, finger tips combining symbols in the air and glowing blue. "Us beasts have many advantages over a normal human in war and love."

All three men were now standing, the barmaid had retreated to behind the counter with the keeper, and Ranger's companions had left without a trace more than a few gold on the table to cover food and damages. The cards were gone.

"The mood is spoiled too now. Maybe we should take your dick after all. Rip it right off." The first 'knight' tried to pull his sword while stepping forward, but a wood cup glowing blue rolled right under his foot. His foot rolled out from under his body and his heavy armor pulled him crashing into the puddle of mead.

Ranger took a few steps back. "Hold my friends. This is all but some fun. We wouldn't want the keeper to call the guards."

"We are the guards." Growled the man who had started it all with his lusty hand. He charged forward, pulling a bastard sword from its scabbard on his back.

Ranger shifted another step towards the door and grabbed a chair. The other man's blade struck the heavy wood of an angled support beam and stuck as Ranger shoved the top of the chair into the soft spot of his throat. The man fell back gasping for breath.

The third man threw the table up and sliced at Ranger's leg with a dagger while the table blocked his view. Ranger shifted his leg out of the way and slammed the table on top of the man's head.

The first man stood up again. He glared at Ranger seeing that the other two men were unmoving on the ground. "You are coming with me for attacking the guards and we will see how you hold up behind bars since you are so eager to spend a night with us. We will make it your last."

The man threw the table out of the way and jumped forward swinging his fisted gauntlets. Ranger dodged a right hook and then a left, taking a few more steps towards the door. "Technically, all I have done was defend myself. I haven't pulled a weapon. I haven't even touched anyone yet. Can your fellow 'guard' say the same?"

The 'guard' grabbed a tankard off another person's table and threw it. The liquid inside splashed out as the tankard aimed for Ranger's head. Both glowed for a brief second along with Rangers hands and the tankard landed back where it came while the liquid splashed in the guard's face.

"Alright, I did do that." Ranger smirked at the mead soaked guard.

The guard roared and charged forward.

"Now who's the beast?" Ranger quipped as he dodged, grabbed the guard's armor and slammed him into the door frame with a loud crack. The guard lay limp on the ground and Ranger turned with a bow to the barmaid and keeper. "Sorry for the ruckus. I will clean up and then take my leave."

Ranger went and picked up the two men farthest from the door first. He threw their bulky forms over his shoulders with ease. They barely fit over the tops of his arms, but whatever his strength was made it look more like he was carrying a pair of fluffy comforters than two grown men in metal armor. He then kicked the third out the door and around the corner.

Seeing several people still on the street despite it being night, Ranger threw the two men he was holding out of the lamplight and down a dark ally. He then picked up the third and did the same before walking away with his hands behind his head, whistling a tune, and gazing up at the stars like nothing had happened.

His night certainly was not ruined.

As for me, my fantasizing wasn't over. Something nagged my brain about that alley, but I decided I wanted to see more of this man instead.